2017–18 Montenegrin First League

The 2017–18 Montenegrin First League was the 12th season of the top-tier football in Montenegro. The season began on 5 August 2017 and ended on 26 May 2018.[1] Budućnost Podgorica are the defending champions.[2]

Montenegrin First League

Season	2017–18
Dates	5 August 2017 – 26 May 2018
Champions	Sutjeska
Relegated	Dečić Kom
Champions League	Sutjeska
Europa League	Budućnost Mladost Rudar
Matches played	180
Goals scored	371 (2.06 per match)
Top goalscorer	Igor Ivanović (14 goals)
← 2016–17 2018–19 →

The league champions earned a place in the 2018–19 Champions League first qualifying round, and the second and third placed clubs earned a place in the 2018–19 Europa League first qualifying round.[3] Since the third-placed Mladost Podgorica won the 2017–18 Montenegrin Cup which earned them the same spot in the Europa League, the spot was taken by the fourth-placed team.

There was one new club this season, Kom, who earned promotion from the Montenegrin Second League.[1] Bokelj, Lovćen and Jedinstvo Bijelo Polje were relegated after the 2016–17 season, as the league's contestants amount was reduced from 12 clubs to 10.[2]

Teams

Budućnost

Dečić

Grbalj

Iskra

Kom

Mladost

Petrovac

Rudar

Sutjeska

Zeta

Team	Place	Ground	Capacity	Coach
FK Budućnost	Podgorica	Stadion pod Goricom	15.230 [4]	Dragoje Miloradović [5]
FK Grbalj	Radanovići	Stadion Donja Sutvara	1.500 [6]	Dragan Radojičić [7]
FK Dečić	Tuzi	Stadion Tuško Polje	5.000[8]	Mirko Marić [9]
FK Iskra	Danilovgrad	Stadion Braće Velašević	2.000[10]	Jovan Stanković [11]
FK Kom	Podgorica	Stadion Zlatica	3.000 [12]	Veselin Stešević [13]
FK Mladost	Podgorica	Camp FSCG	2.000[14]	Dejan Vukićević [15]
OFK Petrovac	Petrovac	Stadion pod Malim brdom	1.630 [16]	Rudolf Marčić [17]
FK Rudar	Pljevlja	Stadion pod Golubinjom	10.000 [18]	Radislav Dragićević [19]
FK Sutjeska	Nikšić	Stadion kraj Bistrice	6.180 [20]	Nikola Rakojević [21]
FK Zeta	Golubovci	Stadion Trešnjica	5.000 [22]	Dejan Roganović [23]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Sutjeska (C)	36	24	7	5	55	23	+32	79	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Budućnost	36	14	15	7	44	30	+14	57	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
3	Mladost	36	12	15	9	42	33	+9	51
4	Grbalj	36	12	14	10	39	39	0	50
5	Rudar	36	13	10	13	32	28	+4	49[lower-alpha 2]	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
6	Zeta	36	12	13	11	40	35	+5	49[lower-alpha 2]
7	Iskra	36	12	9	15	33	34	−1	45
8	Kom (R)	36	11	10	15	36	45	−9	43	Qualification for the relegation play-offs
9	Petrovac (O)	36	9	11	16	25	40	−15	38
10	Dečić (R)	36	3	12	21	25	64	−39	21	Relegation to the Second League

Source: UEFA, Soccerway, FSCG
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 3) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Head-to-head away goals scored; 6) Goal difference; 7) Goals scored; 8) Draw.[25]
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (R) Relegated.
Notes:

1. Since the winners of the 2017–18 Montenegrin Cup, Mladost Podgorica, qualified for European competition based on league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners (Europa League first qualifying round) was passed to the fourth-placed team. However, since Grbalj failed to obtain a UEFA license, their Europa league spot was passed to the fifth-placed team.[24]
2. Rudar Pljevlja finished ahead of Zeta on head-to-head points: Rudar 6 points, Zeta 3 points.

Results

The ten clubs played each other four times for a total of 36 matches each.[26]

First half of season Home \ Away BUD DEC GRB ISK KOM MLA PET RUD SUT ZET Budućnost — 4–1 4–1 3–0 1–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 3–1 2–1 Dečić 0–0 — 3–3 3–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 0–0 0–0 1–4 Grbalj 1–2 1–1 — 0–1 3–2 0–2 0–2 1–0 1–1 2–1 Iskra 0–0 4–1 0–0 — 1–1 0–1 0–0 0–2 0–1 1–1 Kom 0–1 2–1 0–0 1–0 — 2–1 2–1 1–0 0–1 1–1 Mladost 3–3 0–0 2–1 2–0 2–2 — 5–0 1–1 0–2 0–1 Petrovac 0–0 1–0 2–3 0–1 0–1 1–0 — 0–0 0–1 0–1 Rudar 2–0 4–0 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 4–1 — 0–3 0–0 Sutjeska 1–0 3–0 1–0 2–1 4–0 1–1 3–0 3–0 — 1–0 Zeta 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–2 4–2 3–0 0–0 0–0 1–2 — Source: Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Second half of season Home \ Away BUD DEC GRB ISK KOM MLA PET RUD SUT ZET Budućnost — 3–1 0–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–0 2–3 1–1 Dečić 0–1 — 0–0 0–3 1–3 1–4 0–1 1–2 0–0 1–2 Grbalj 0–0 1–1 — 0–2 2–2 2–1 0–0 1–0 2–3 2–0 Iskra 0–1 2–0 1–3 — 3–0 1–1 2–3 0–0 0–1 2–1 Kom 2–3 1–2 1–3 0–0 — 0–1 2–0 0–2 0–1 0–1 Mladost 1–1 2–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 — 1–1 2–0 2–1 2–3 Petrovac 2–1 3–1 0–1 0–0 0–1 0–0 — 2–0 1–0 0–0 Rudar 0–0 1–0 1–0 0–2 1–1 2–0 3–1 — 2–1 0–0 Sutjeska 3–2 2–0 1–1 3–1 0–1 0–0 1–0 2–1 — 1–1 Zeta 1–1 2–0 1–2 1–0 0–2 0–0 3–1 1–3 0–1 — Source: Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Promotion/relegation play-offs

30 May 2018 (2018-05-30)

Kom	0–0	Lovćen

Stadion Zlatica, Podgorica

3 June 2018 (2018-06-03)

Lovćen	2–1	Kom

Stadion Trešnjica, Golubovci

Lovćen won 2–1 on aggregate.

---

30 May 2018 (2018-05-30)

Mladost 1970	0–3	Petrovac

Stari Ribnjak Stadium, Podgorica

3 June 2018 (2018-06-03)

Petrovac	2–2	Mladost 1970

Stadion pod Malim brdom, Petrovac

Petrovac won 5–2 on aggregate.

Top scorers

Rank	Scorer	Club	Goals
1	Igor Ivanović	Sutjeska	14
2	Alen Melunović	Budućnost	13
	Nikola Krstović	Zeta
4	Ivan Vuković	Grbalj	11
5	Darko Nikać	Budućnost	9
6	Marko Ćetković	Mladost	8
	Luka Merdović	Sutjeska
8	Benjamin Kacić	Petrovac	7
	Božo Marković	Sutjeska
	Bogdan Milić	Iskra
	Miljan Vlaisavljević	Budućnost
	Stefan Đorđević	Petrovac

See also

• Montenegrin First League
• 2017–18 Montenegrin Second League

References

1. "First League". soccerway.com. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
2. "First League". soccerway.com. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
3. "Preliminary Access List 2018/19". Bert Kassies. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
4. "FK Budućnost Podgorica". soccerway.com. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
5. "FK Budućnost Podgorica » Manager history". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
6. "FK Grbalj". soccerway.com. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
7. "FK Grbalj Radanovići » Manager history". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
8. "FK Dečić". soccerway.com. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
9. "FK Dečić Tuzi » Manager history". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
10. "Stadion Braća Velašević". soccerway.com. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
11. "Iskra Danilovgrad » Manager history". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
12. "FK Kom Podgorica". soccerway.com. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
13. "FK Kom » Manager history". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
14. "FK Mladost Podgorica". soccerway.com. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
15. "FK Mladost Podgorica » Manager history". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
16. "OFK Petrovac". soccerway.com. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
17. "OFK Petrovac » Manager history". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
18. "FK Rudar Pljevlja". soccerway.com. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
19. "FK Rudar Pljevlja » Manager history". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
20. "FK Sutjeska Nikšić". soccerway.com. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
21. "FK Sutjeska » Manager history". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
22. "FK Zeta Golubovci". soccerway.com. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
23. "FK Zeta » Manager history". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
24. "Budućnost i Rudar idu u LE, Grbalj bez licence". rtcg.me. 31 May 2018.
25. "First League: Season Rules". Scoresway. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
26. "First League: Season Rules". Scoresway.com. Retrieved 14 June 2017.

External links

• UEFA